


This is heaven in hiding

by captainamysantiago



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Developing Friendships, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Jakku, M/M, New York City, Slow Burn, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23262988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamysantiago/pseuds/captainamysantiago
Summary: “I have a friend, Luke, he organizes a special camp during July and August. It’s mostly for older kids, but I think he could really help you out,”“What sort of camp?” Rey asked with bated breath.“It’s in the state of New York, close to a town called Endor I think. It’s for troubled youth,” Maz admitted, gauging Rey’s reaction.When Rey gets caught shoplifting, her foster mother sends her to Luke Skywalker’s camp for troubled youth in New York. Rey’s sure she’s going to hate it. Good thing there’s a nineteen-year-old counselor named Ben to keep her company.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Phasma, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 11
Kudos: 10





	This is heaven in hiding

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first Star Wars fanfiction, I really hope you guys like it. I took some inspiration from some of the amazing fanfictions already on this site, but I want to say that any resemblance to any piece of work is accidental. This story starts off when Rey is ten-years-old, but there will definitely be time jumps. However, this a slow burn, so you can expect quite a few chapters before any action. I'll try to update this story as much as possible. Have fun reading, and don't hesitate to tell me your opinion on this chapter!

2010: Jakku, Arizona

The cool air-conditioning of the department store welcomed the ten-year-old Rey in as she breathed deeply, walking along the familiar aisles of clothes. It was just a treat to get a break from the unbearable heat that was Jakku in June. Her face was slightly sunburned and she felt like she had sweat buckets just from the short walk from her new foster home to the town’s mall. The light shirt she was wearing with the logo of a well-known pizzeria, two sizes too big for her, stuck to her like a second skin.

For a few moments, she was just content with walking through the spacious store, occasionally glancing at the clothes on sale. The store - called Herby’s or Hirbies or something like that - was known for selling cheap clothes, though the quality was questionable, with the grand amount of 2,50 $ in the pocket of her denim shorts, she couldn’t even buy a scrunchie. Not that she ever went shopping here - all her clothes were bought in thrift stores or hand me downs. That didn’t bother her most of the time, but as she looked down at her own clothes - a size too big and obviously worn before - the taunts of her classmates rang in her ears. She quickly shook the feeling off and avoided looking at the clothes, aimlessly walking around the store.

Soon, a familiar sensation gripped her, coupled with dread and a sense of relief. She knew what was going to happen next, and she knew that only bad things followed from this urge - her past foster family had been very clear on that - but she couldn’t help the wave of relief wash over her, because even though her world had been turned upside down yet again, even though she had changed foster families for the second time that year, at least this feeling was constant. At least she recognized a bit of herself in this strange town.

Her fingers twitched, and she cast her eyes on a pair of sunglasses. Suddenly, she needed to own them. They were plastic, and not remarkable in any way, just like all the other items she had targeted before, but she couldn’t look away. With practice, she looked around, and once she reassured herself that no one was around, she shoved the glasses in her pocket. Then, adrenaline rushed through her veins and pushed her to walk out of the store with a composed face, though her fast-paced walk betrayed her.

She exited the store, feeling the same sense of victory she always felt when she was successful. She slipped the sunglasses on, smiling widely. However, what Rey didn’t see was a large security guard standing right behind her, his hands on his hips, his eyes threatening.

“I think,” he began, “that you forgot to pay,”

Rey quickly assessed her options: running would be impossible. Face burning in humiliation, she turned around slowly.

OoOoOoOo

Her new foster mother, a kind woman who went by the name of Maz, was not happy when she came to pick Rey from the police station. In fact, she told her this many times, and Rey couldn’t help the shame creeping in her heart as well as the flush on her face. Unlike her last foster family, Maz seemed to care about her in a way that perplexed her, and even though she had only lived with her for two weeks, she wanted to please her. The kind aging woman she had come to appreciate shot a pointed glare at Rey as they walked out of the police station. Rey fixed her eyes on the sidewalk, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her shorts to keep from fidgeting. They walked in silence for a moment, alone on the street.

“I’m sorry. It was a mistake,” she blurted out before the silence could get any more awkward. She slowly turned her head to Maz and was pleased to see that the woman’s dark eyes were softening.

“Rey, if you don’t stop, this is going to be a problem,” Maz continued, snapping Rey out of her reverie, “This is the second time in two weeks, and your last foster family said that this happened a lot. Shoplifting is a crime, Rey, I had a very hard time convincing the shop owner to not press charges,”

“I’m sorry Maz,” Rey’s voice wavered, “I just can’t stop myself,” she admitted.

“I know, it’s hard. Look, I have a solution to this, but you’re going to have to comply, am I understood?”

Rey stiffened, her mind creating all sorts of possible punishments. She gulped, holding her breath as Maz spoke.

“I have a friend, Luke, he organizes a special camp during July and August. It’s mostly for older kids, but I think he could really help you out,”

“What sort of camp?” Rey asked with bated breath.

“It’s in the state of New York, close to a town called Endor I think. It’s for troubled youth,” Maz admitted, gauging Rey’s reaction. The girl drew in a breath quickly.

“Troubled youth?” her voice went higher, “Is this supposed to be some sort of juvie?”

Rey has heard about juvie before from her last foster family. One of the foster kids living with them was caught dealing drugs outside of his school and was sent away for a few months. When he had come back, he had been a completely different person and was unwilling to talk about his experience there. It had terrified Rey. She could already imagine the cells, the jumpsuits, the guards, and her heart beat faster.

“No of course not, it’s completely different,” Maz shook her head, grasping Rey’s small hand. Rey continued to look suspicious but was shocked by Maz’s kind gesture. A foster parent had never shown her that kind of affection before.

“Rey, it’s just a normal camp with games, bonfires and other kids, but you might have a bit of counseling at the same time,”

Rey stayed silent, her stomach twisting into knots. Her foster mother bent down so she could look into her eyes and smiled gently.

“Try it, for me, please. If you don’t like it, I’ll drive you home,”

Rey found herself nodding, and the pair walked together back home holding hands. For the first time since she had been in the foster system, Rey felt safe.

OoOoOoOo

Rey tapped her foot on the car floor nervously, her suitcase and duffel bag sitting beside her. She watched the road paved with fences, trees and occasionally a few horses in the distance fly by her with an increasing feeling of dread. Today was the day. In only twenty minutes, she would find herself meeting Maz’s friend Luke for the first time and starting her stay at his camp - Maz has told her the name a few days ago, something like Jada or Judo, she had forgotten. When Maz had suggested the idea to her, she had been skeptical and more than a little bit anxious, but the first of July had seemed far away - fifteen days seemed like an eternity. Now here she was, seconds away from jumping out of the car from the stress.

Rey has never been good at meeting people. She supposed it was a hereditary thing - although she had no memories of her parents - or maybe something she had picked up during her years spent at the foster system. She had never stayed in a family for very long, therefore hadn’t made many efforts to build long-lasting relationships with them. The families themselves had pitied her situation and provided her with shelter and food but little more than that.

In fact, even though it had only been a month since she had lived with Maz, she felt closer to her than to any other foster parent she had ever known. Most of the time, the foster families had many other foster children that they tried to manage at the same time, all different ages with different personalities, creating a hectic environment. Rey had quickly discovered that she preferred the quiet. When she had started going to school, it was the same thing: she was always changing. The people at every school were always so different than her, she couldn’t relate to them on a deeper level.

Her clothes were too old, her foster siblings had bad reputations, she didn’t make the effort to reach out to her classmates. This had left Rey with no real friends, although that didn’t bother her very much. She had always liked the silence, and friendships were overrated anyway. Somebody always left.

“Here we are,” announced Maz from the driver’s seat, making Rey’s heartbeat accelerate. She concentrated on breathing slowly. After all, she should be used to this. She had been changing houses and foster families her entire life. With a deep breath, she swung herself out of the van and onto the paved path. While Maz began to dig the bags out of the boot, she looked around. They had stopped in front of a small wooden sign with the words Ahch-To scrawled onto it. Behind it stood a small gate. If she listened closely, she could hear the sounds of a river close by.

Then, she saw a figure approach in the distance, walking towards them. Maz, who had finally managed to pry Rey’s sleeping bag out of the boot, smiled. The figure turned out to be a man sporting messy brown hair that reached his ears, streaks of gray here and there coloring it. He walked confidently to Maz, his blue eyes sparkling.

“Maz, it’s been too long,” he sighed, reaching out to hug her. Maz looked at him reproachfully.

“That certainly isn’t my fault. Why did you have to choose to live in New York City of all places? You know I like small towns,” he chuckled at this, giving her an apology before turning his eyes to Rey. She had been freely observing before, but now felt shy and was quiet.

“You’re the foster kid Maz told me about, I presume. What’s your name?” he asked kindly, putting Rey at ease.

“I’m Rey Niima,” she said, feeling more confident.

“Nice to meet you, Rey Niima. My name is Luke Skywalker. I hope you’ll have a good time here,” as he said this, it didn’t strike Rey as fake or pitying as she had seen in so many other adult’s faces. He looked genuinely happy to see her. She had learned long ago to not expect anything from the adults put in charge of her, but he didn’t look so bad.

“So, you guys drove all the way here from Arizona?” he addressed Maz this time.

“Took two days, I’m exhausted. Of course,” she said, looking at Rey, “I’m sure she’s well-rested. She slept almost the entire time” Maz smiled to Rey as she said this, and Rey could feel her face stretching into an even wider one. She thought of the road trip with Maz. When Maz had first presented the idea, not being able to afford plane tickets, Rey had dreaded such close proximity with another person for so long. But she had quickly found that Maz’s presence didn’t bother her in the least.

Her foster mother had told her many stories about her youth, most of them had Rey laughing so hard she cried. Even though she had slept most of the time, it was a memory she would treasure for many years to come. She looked at Maz and felt a burst of affection in her chest. A voice in her mind protested, telling her that Maz would only abandon her, just like everyone else in her life, but she ignored it. She knew that she got attached to people too easily, but she trusted her new foster mother.

“Alright Rey, Luke here is going to show you around the camp and give you a description of what activities you’ll be doing, the food you’ll be eating, the counseling sessions you’ll be attending. Are you okay with that?” Maz asked.

All Rey wanted at that moment was to flee back into the car and get back to Jakku, but she forced herself to nod, waving to Maz as her foster mother got into the car. She was going to be brave.

“Rey,” Maz called as Rey began to turn away from her. Rey looked back and saw Maz smiling at her with affection. Without thinking, she smiled back.

“I’ll miss you,” Maz said just loud enough that only Rey could hear. Rey’s heart fluttered and her smile grew wider.

“So will I,” she admitted quietly. She watched Maz get into the beaten-up car and fade into the distance, not knowing what to think.

She turned to Luke expectantly, trying to peek around him and get a good look at the campsite. He gave her an easygoing smile and led her through the wooden gates and onto a small dirt path. After a few moments of walking in silence, they got to a small two-story building surrounded by trees.

“That’s the main house. We call it D’Qar,” he said proudly gesturing towards the building.

“D’Qar,” Rey repeated, trying to familiarize herself with the name.

“This is where we hide out if the weather’s really terrible, but I also host the counseling sessions there. Plus, I have my bedroom and my office there, it’s handy for filling out paperwork and keeping watch on the whole campsite. My nephew also stays there,” Luke mentioned. Rey listened carefully.

“Your nephew?” she asks, wondering why Maz had never mentioned him.

“Yeah, there he is. He’s almost nineteen, so he helps me out with running the camp. He’s also a counselor,” he said, smiling as he pointed him out. Rey craned her neck and saw a tall man approaching, walking fast, determined. He stopped in front of Luke, starting to speak.

The first thing Rey noticed about him was his height. Not that she hadn’t seen grown men before, but this man towered over her small ten-year-old frame. His shoulders were broad, making him appear imposing. He had dark hair almost going to his shoulders that framed his face elegantly. He might even have been considered handsome if not for the sullen expression on his face. He opened his mouth to talk exclusively to Luke about things Rey didn’t understand.

“The river just flooded in Alderaan, and Poe said that he needs your help on managing Bebe,” he continued talking, but Rey was unable to distinguish what he was saying. She had the impression that they were using code words.

After all, what could a Bebe be? She drowned out the sound of his voice, low and harsh, all while continuing to stare at him raptly. He finally spotted her and interrupted his speech, looking down incredulously.

“What’s that?” he asked sharply. Luke only chuckled and put Rey in front of him. Rey swallowed her indignation at his tone.

“She’s the new camper I was talking about this morning. Maz came to drop her off,”

“You didn’t mention she was eight years old,”

“I know, we usually only accept older children, but this is a favor for an old friend. Besides, she won’t be too much trouble,” Rey’s face burned in front of Luke’s nephew’s exaggerated sigh. She hadn’t chosen this.

“I’ll go check out the flooding you talked to me about. You’ll keep an eye on her, show her around the campsite, kay?” Luke said pointedly to his nephew before rushing off. His nephew shot a glare at his retreating form, huffing in frustration.

“Right,” he said, turning his sharp gaze to her, “what’s your name?”

“Rey. And I’m not eight years old. I’ll turn eleven next year,” she said impulsively, crossing her arms. He looked at her bemusedly before sighing.

“Same difference,”

“And who are you?” she asked.

“Ben Solo. I’m Luke’s nephew. I’m a counselor, I help run things around here. Welcome to camp Ahch-To. We call it AT for short.” he said unenthusiastically.

OoOoOoOo

Rey trailed after Ben, fascinated as she examined every inch of the tents, the bonfire surrounded by logs where campers could sit on, the beaten path leading to a sparkling lake. In the distance, she heard the laughs and sounds of people having a passionate conversation. Her stomach twisted nervously. Maz had mentioned that the other campers were older, but if they all looked at her the way Ben had looked at her when he had first seen her, she wouldn’t have many friends.

Not that she expected to make friends. She was used to being alone, eating by herself in the cafeteria and avoiding other people’s stares as they talked about her. But in the car on the way here, she had hoped that she could finally find people who understood her, to whom she could relate to. Her expression of worry must have been obvious because Ben turned around and frowned. The hard, angry lines on his face softened.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll make friends easily. We stick together here,” he said, a hint of bitterness coming into his voice at the end of his sentence.

A part of Rey jubilated from having this angry, young man comforting her, but her mind was mostly focused elsewhere.

“Luke said everyone’s older than me,”

“You don’t seem to be the type to let that stop you,” he told her with a wry smile.

“We’re here,” he said as they reached a tent, “Welcome to your new home,”

He said this warily with a forced chuckle, but Rey paid no attention to his tone. She pushed aside the flap that served as an entrance for the tent eagerly, and entered, curious. Inside, she found a platform of wood that served as a floor, sleek though slightly dusty. In front of her lay two beds, one with an enormous neon pink duffel bag thrown on it, its contents spilling out. Magazines, hairbrushes, and makeup littered the bed and the floor. Rey froze, shocked.

“Not much, is it?” Ben said.

“It’s nice,” Rey breathed as she took in the room. To be fair, it wasn’t as nice as the small bedroom in Maz’s house that she currently occupied, but she had seen much worse living conditions. Much worse. Behind her, Ben frowned. She threw her duffel bag onto the empty bed and looked up to Ben.

“Alright, now where are we going?”

“ _We_ are not going anywhere. _I_ am going to check if the flooding problem in Alderaan is fixed, and _you_ are going to unpack until dinner time.”

“Unpacking will only take a minute,” she whined.

“Of course it will,” he rolled his eyes, “I’m going,” He lifted the canvas flap and started walking away. Rey scowled at his back.

“Done,” she said breathlessly a few moments mater, running up to Ben’s retreating form. Ben sighed heavily, but the corner of his lip curved into an amused smile.

“You really can’t let go of me, can you?” he chuckled, looking down at her.

“No can do. C’mon, let’s go see the flood in Alderaan. I’ll be a great help. I love floods,” Rey babbled as she followed Ben through the deserted campsite, trying to keep up with his long steps.

“I really doubt that. Trust me, this flood isn’t going to be impressive,” he said.

“That’s okay, I can deal with that,” Rey said, smiling. Ben gave her a half-smile but didn’t answer. She kept trailing after him.

“Ben?”

“What again?” he turned around to look at her.

“What’s Alderaan?” she said, trying to keep from laughing at his annoyed expression.

“The camp is divided into four different sections. Each section has its own banner, set of tents and bonfire, but we all get together to do the activities and have dinner. There’s Tatooine for the campers from 13 and 14-year-olds. That’s where your tent is. Then there’s Yavin for the 15 and 16-year-olds. Alderaan is for the 17 and 18-year-old campers. And Hoth is for the counselors like me.” He explained as Rey listened carefully.

“Wow. There must be a lot of campers,” Rey said once he finished.

“It changes every year,” he shrugged.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you later. We’re at Alderaan,” Ben said, stopping in front of a new set of tents closer to the lake.

OoOoOoOo

An hour later, Rey found herself back at the tent waiting for the campers from her section, Tatooine, to come back from their kayaking trip so that they could head to dinner together, which Ben had told her was at the big bonfire close to the building. She had had a great time trying to stop the flooding of a tent in Alderaan with Luke and Ben and had even met Poe, who was an 18-year-old camper who was training to become a counselor. He had been very nice and welcoming. Rey hoped the other campers were like him.

At the sound of people coming towards the set of tents, Rey tensed. What were these people going to be like? Were they going to be like her classmates at school, closed off and constantly judging her? She desperately hoped they weren’t. She heard a voice from outside of her tent and sat up immediately.

“I know, I know Tallie. Anyway, I gotta go, Luke said that my roommate got here today,”

The tent flap was opened and in walked a tall girl with curly brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail wearing a tie-dye shirt and jean shorts. Her bright green eyes fixed on Rey immediately and widened.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in disbelief. Rey stood up awkwardly.

“Hi, I’m Rey, your new roommate,” she tried to say cheerfully.

“Um, there must be a problem. You don’t look like you’re old enough to be here,” the girl said confusedly.

“No, there’s no problem. My foster mom is an old friend of Luke’s, and he said I could come even though I’m not old enough yet,” Rey explained.

“Right. Uh, I’m Jessika, but everyone here calls me Jess. Look, how old are you?” she asked.

“Ten years old,”

“Alright. Well, nice to meet you, Rey. I’m just going to see the others, but I’ll be back soon. You can do whatever you want,” she said awkwardly before darting out of the tent. Rey stood alone in the middle and sighed. Wanting to see the other campers, she got out of the tent quietly and heard Jess talking to a friend of hers.

“Tallie, Luke’s gone crazy. I’m sharing a tent with a ten-year-old! What the hell?” Rey heard Jess say to her friend. Rey’s face burned with embarrassment. She should have never come here.

“Ouch, that sounds hard. You can come to our tent if you want, we can fit a bed here somewhere.” Tallie said.

“Thank god. Anyway, I’m a little weirded out. What did a ten-year-old do to get to a camp for troubled youth?”

“Oh my god, I hadn’t even thought of that,” Tallie agreed, “she probably murdered someone or something,” the two girls laughed as they walked away. Rey suddenly wanted to go back to her tent and hide under the covers until the summer was over.

“Don’t listen to them,” a voice said from behind her. Rey turned around and saw an Asian girl staring back at her with kind eyes.

“They’re right. I mean, I obviously didn’t murder someone, but I’m much younger than anyone here,” Rey admitted.

“That’s fine. Look, they might be a little shocked right now, but I promise you that you’ll have people to talk to. I’m Paige,” the girl said.

“Hi, Paige. I’m Rey,”

“I can accompany you to the bonfire so you don’t get lost,” she offered.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Rey couldn’t help but ask. Nobody at school had ever offered her anything.

“You remind me of my little sister. She’s your age,” Paige said with a smile.

OoOoOoOo

“So, why are you covered in dirt?” Paige asked her as they walked to the bonfire with the other campers. Many of them were sneaking glances at Rey, but she tried to ignore them.

“Oh, that,” she looked down at her clothes spattered with mud and blushed, “I was helping Ben and Luke try to stop flooding in Alderaan this afternoon,”

“You were helping Ben? I feel sorry for you,” Paige laughed. Rey frowned.

“Why?” she asked.

“Everyone here, at least in Tatooine finds him really intimidating. Apparently, he can be really violent and mean with the other campers. He mostly keeps to himself,” Paige explained. Rey thought about what Ben had been like and then Paige’s description. He didn’t seem scary, violent or mean at all to her. She shrugged and let it go.

Soon, they were at the bonfire. Around fifty campers were already there, all serving themselves at the buffet, piling hot dogs onto their plates and then sitting with their friend. Rey went to the buffet eagerly and took a plate, piling onto it as many hot dogs as she could. She turned around and spotted Paige sitting with four other campers she had noticed from Tatooine. She bit her lip nervously. She could sit with them; she was sure that Paige would let her, yet she knew she would feel left out.

Rey looked around for a quiet spot where she could sit by herself, just like she did in the school cafeteria, and spotted Ben in a more isolated spot. She looked at the seats around him; many of them were empty, while on the other side of the bonfire, there were so many campers that some had to sit on the ground. She realized with shock that they were scared of Ben. How strange.

Balancing the pile of hot dogs on her plate, she walked up to Ben, smiling widely. She plopped down on the log next to him and started eating. Ben turned around and looked at her with a shocked expression.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Is this seat taken?” Rey asked, her mouth full.

“No,”

“Then I’m eating dinner with you,” she replied.

“Don’t you have a roommate or something to eat with?” he asked.

“No. Well, yeah, I have a roommate but I’m not eating with her. I’m eating with you,” she said.

“Fine,” he scowled at her and stood up to get some hot dogs. Rey looked around her at the campers and surprised some of them staring at her and whispering. Her face flushed. Ben soon came back with a full plate.

“So,” she started, “where are your friends,” she asked brightly.

“I don’t have any,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

“Ben Solo, did you just say that you didn’t have any friends? I’m wounded. What am I to you then?” a voice said from behind them. Poe sat down next to them, chuckling.

“You’re not my friend Poe. I only hang out with you out of necessity,” Ben answered.

“Wow, just what someone likes to hear. I wouldn’t hang out with him too much, Rey, his attitude might rub off on you,” Poe said as Ben smacked him on the back of the head lightly.

“I don’t know what attitude you’re talking about,” Ben huffed.

“What, you aren’t aware that you barely engage the conversation with anyone here and that you once glared at someone so much that he tried to run away and fell into the lake?” Poe laughed.

“That doesn’t count. He was a Tatooine. They’re babies,” Ben said.

“Hey! I’m not a baby!” Rey huffed.

“Kid, you were born in the 2000s. That makes you a baby,” Ben said as Rey pouted. Their argument was soon cut short when Luke cleared his throat and began talking.

“Welcome, everyone, to the official opening night of Ahch-To! As usual, the camp is divided into four sections, Tatooine, Yavin, Alderaan, and Hoth. If you have any questions about your tent or other sleeping arrangements, you can come to me at D’Qar. I know that most you know this, but some could use a reminder that going anywhere past the lake without authorization from me or a counselor is forbidden. Everyone should be in their tents at different times depending on your section: 9:30 for Tatooine, 10:00 for Yavin, 10:30 for Alderaan 11:00 for Hoth. If I or any of the counselors catch you outside past those times, there will be consequences,”

“Activities begin tomorrow, you can take a look at the activity board at each bonfire and you can sign up for the extra activities. Breakfast is at 7:30 and lunch is at 12:30 though some activities last the whole day so you will need to pack a sandwich. Counseling sessions, I repeat, are mandatory and happen twice a week. You will each receive a schedule telling you when to come to see me at D’Qar. That’s it, you can now eat dinner in peace!” Luke said, smiling.

“Looks like you didn’t need any encouragement,” Poe snickered at Rey’s pile of hot dogs and the one she had in her mouth.

“You seem pretty hungry,” Ben grinned.

“Always,” she replied. The foster homes before Maz had not always given her food on time. Sometimes, she hadn’t known when her next meal would be, so she was used to eating enormous quantities of food at a time. Yet another thing her classmates made fun of. However, here, eating with Poe and Ben, she didn’t feel like she was being made fun. In fact, she was enjoying herself.

OoOoOoOo

Ben and Rey walked back to Tatooine together once the bonfire was over and the sky was dark. Rey had loved eating with Ben and Poe and was feeling comfortable until she got to her tent. She grimaced.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked her.

“I’m pretty sure my roommate doesn’t like me,” she admitted, “they all think that I committed murder or something to get here,”

“That’s really stupid,” Ben said, shaking his head.

“I know,” Rey said quietly.

“What did you do to get here?” Ben asked hesitantly.

“I shoplift. A lot.” Rey whispered. She was scared he would judge her.

“That’s definitely not as bad as a murder,” he replied as she laughed.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I have anger issues,” he said wryly, watching her reaction carefully, “I used to be in a lot of fights. I still am. My parents have been sending me here with my uncle Luke forever,” he said this with a hint of bitterness, but then smiled as he looked down at Rey.

“Am I scaring you?” he asked.

“No,” Rey replied truthfully.

“Good. Goodnight, Rey,”

“Goodnight, Ben,”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this chapter, please leave kudos, bookmark the story or leave a review because I am in need of validation :)


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